The Instant Message Wooing of Bella Swan
by addisonj
Summary: Edward Cullen is a painfully shy computer geek who falls for high tech coworker Bella Swan. Unfortunately, he's afraid to talk to her without his laptop present. He needs Alice and IM for help. One shot for Google-ward Contest. AH. Complete.


The Instant Messenger Wooing of Bella Swan

**"GOOGLE IT" - GOOGLEWARD CHALLENGE ENTRY**

**Title: The Instant Messenger Wooing of Bella Swan**

**Pen Name(s): addisonJ**

**Summary: Edward falls for coworker Bella, but needs to rely on Alice and his own IM skills to talk to her**

**Word Count: 6115**

**To enter visit: ****http://www (dot) fanfiction (dot) net/~googlewardchallenge**

A/N: there's a glossary of abbreviations at the end.

Thanks to my betas, TwiliteAddict, and Feriel_Muriel.

Edward Kasner = American mathematician who created the term "googol" which equal 10 to the 100th power.

***

"But wouldn't you say that your book is a retelling of Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ except that it's set in the Andromeda Galaxy, and Darcy is purple skinned with gills and Elizabeth has three heads?"

Startled by the question, Edward Cullen looked up from his laptop. He was sitting in a small auditorium at Kasner Corp, listening to a visiting author lecture about his new book. (One of the numerous perks at Kasner Corp was having famous authors, politicians, entertainers, and such appear on campus and give lectures to the employees.)

Edward had a few minutes free before a nearby meeting so he slipped into the back of the room and was catching up on emails, only half listening to the book reading while his fingers tapped furiously on his laptop as he instant messengered (IM) coworkers and friends. He startled to hear such an interesting and confrontational question posed to the esteemed author.

He glanced in the direction of the female voice that posed the query. The questioner was a slightly short pretty young woman with long brown hair, pale skin and warm brown eyes. To Edward, she was gorgeous. And she had such a strong intelligent, yet lovely and quietly fierce look on her face as she dared question this famous author.

"This book is no more _Pride and Prejudice_ than it's _Bridget Jones' Diary_," was the author's arrogant-sounding reply.

"But that's the point! _Bridget Jones' Diary_ is a riff on _Pride and Prejudice_ as well. You have the two protagonists with mutual disregard for the other. One is too proud to show his true feelings and the other is prejudiced against him for the wrong reasons. In your novel, one is proud because their civilization has been decimated by the Rogarians, and the other is prejudiced because they misinterpret said pride. It's play by play classic Jane Austen." The voice was a soft, feminine voice that was increasing in volume and determination with each word.

Edward was amazed. Here was a smart, articulate, attractive woman who was both conversant in British Literature and modern American science fiction. Could anyone create a more perfect woman? He was in love. Now, he had to find out her name….

As the exchange continued between the author and the woman (growing ever more animated), Edward grabbed his laptop and half-walked, half-crouched to a seat closer to the microphone stand where the mystery woman was still fully engaged in conversation with the famous author. He glanced at her employee badge: _Isabella Swan_. Quickly, he accessed the Kasner Corp employee directory and found her name, photo, department, and office location. Excellent! Her office was located near his best friend and pseudo-little sister, Alice Brandon. He quickly sent Alice an IM, even though her IM status was red for busy.

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

_Alice_Brandon: y. busy._

_Edward_Cullen: do u know Isabella swan?_

_Alice_Brandon: y. copywriter on my floor. Why?_

_Edward_Cullen: do u no her? Can you introduce me?_

_Alice_Brandon: why?_

_Edward_Cullen: she's at a book reading with me and I want to meet her._

_Alice: try walking up to her and saying hi_

_Edward: what will I talk about?_

_Alice: hmmm. You're at a book reading. Talk about the book._

_Edward: I haven't read it._

_Alice: has she read it?_

_Edward: yes. She's asking a great question right now._

_Alice: so tell her that you appreciated her question. Something like that._

_Edward: what exactly?_

_Alice: got2 go. I'm in a meeting and need to present now and project from my laptop. I'm logging off IM_

_Edward: help!!! (scared smiley face)_

Alice's status went offline. Edward slumped. He had to talk to her. What would he say? He wished Alice were there. Or Jasper. Or Emmett. Basically, anyone who could help him in this situation.

Edward Cullen had a problem talking to certain girls. To be more specific, girls he was attracted to. The origins of his dilemma started when he was a scrawny, pimply nerd boy who stayed in his room all day and played fantasy games with strangers on his PC. It was so much easier to converse with people via the World Wide Web versus standing in front of them. Over the Internet, he did not have to worry about subtleties such as body language or voice tone; his typed words spoke for themselves.

When he finally left his room to attend Stanford University and study Computer Science, his face had cleared up, his cheekbones and jaw line became more pronounced and he reached his full height of six feet. He was suddenly a very handsome man and began to get noticed by not just fellow girl geeks, but _girl_ girls. If he was not interested in them, he was fine interacting with them. He did not regress into that scrawny, insecure teenage boy who hid in his room for years. However, if he _was_ interested, the socially awkward teenage boy came out of his reptilian brain and took over Edward's mind and actions, in particular his vocal chords. Edward had the unfortunate dilemma of being fairly mute if not just downright inept around women he crushed on.

Edward looked up and noticed that Isabella had gathered her things and was now standing in line for an autograph from the famous author. Edward spied some extra copies of the author's book lying on an empty chair and grabbed one; he fell into the line behind her. She did not notice him, but instead was checking her iPhone for messages. He knew he had to make a move, and do it now.

"Uh, um…" Edward started making noises, hoping Isabella would turn around. She did not.

He swallowed, and then gently poked her with his finger. She startled, nearly dropping her iPhone.

"Yes?" she turned and raised an eyebrow. She looked slightly perturbed.

"Um, I- I liked your question. The _Pride and Prejudice_ reference. I liked what you said," Edward stumbled over his words. Isabella then relaxed and smiled.

"I hope I didn't sound too aggressive, but I'm so surprised none of the book reviewers commented on it! Male science fiction reviewers! They don't read enough Austen!" She was smiling and almost laughing now. Edward relaxed in turn.

She held out her hand. "Bella Swan."

"Edward Cullen. But, uh--doesn't your badge say 'Isabella'?" he pointed to the employee i.d. badge hanging from her lanyard.

She shrugged. "I never use Isabella, but it's my real name. Never got around to changing my badge. But it helps to differentiate the people who really know me from the people who don't. All my friends know I'm Bella, strangers or pretenders call me Isabella."

Smart, witty, articulate. Wow. Edward was hooked.

He had so much he wanted to say, to find out, and to learn about her. What does she like? What does she do? Is she single? Would she be interested in him? Instead, he said, "Uh, where do you work?"

Bella smiled and tipped her head in the general direction of her office building. "I'm over in Marketing. I'm a copywriter there."

Oh good! Edward could find common ground. He rushed his words: "Do you work with Alice Brandon? She's in Marketing. We were at Stanford together."

Bella smiled in recognition. "Alice is a project manager just a few offices from me. I know her, we don't work together directly, but we've chatted in the break room near our offices." Bella suddenly paused and spoke conspiratorially, "We've discussed our mutual desire for pop-tarts."

"There are pop-tarts in our break room!" Edward exclaimed. He was relieved to find more conversation topics. His confidence was rising.

"Lucky you! Where do you work?"

"In Building 42, second floor west. Engineering." (At Kasner Corp, the main building/ the nicest building/ the engineering building, was number 42, an homage to Douglas Adams' _Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy_ and the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything? 42. Go ahead, look it up on Wikipedia.)

Bella's eyes' widened. "Oh, of course. Engineering always has the best break rooms." She smirked.

Edward suddenly noticed that Bella was next in line, and he was growing increasingly desperate. Time was running out. "You should uh, you and Alice should come by. Or I could bring some pop-tarts to you—"

"Oh, my turn! Nice talking to you—" she glanced at his badge "–Edward. See you around." Bella was now at the top of the line and handed her copy of the book to the famous author, who recognized her as the persistent questioner.

"Ah, my favorite fan. To whom shall I dedicate this book?" asked the author; his trailing voice was brimming with lightly veiled arrogance.

Edward did not listen to the response; he was patting himself on the back for actually having a conversation with her, with Bella Swan. Seven sentences, if he counted correctly. He was able to actually speak seven sentences to her! He wished Alice were there. He could have probably spoken ten sentences with Alice there to help bridge the gap.

Once her book was signed, Bella turned to say goodbye to Edward. "Nice talking to you, Edward. See you," she waved goodbye, leaving Edward speechless. He wasn't even able to produce the eighth sentence, and the author was still sitting there, getting impatient.

"To whom do I dedicate this to?" he asked frostily.

Edward almost forgot his name said "Bella Swan."

***

"So I'm sitting there at this book reading, and this vision of beauty asks a question that dazzles the mind."

Edward was sitting in the office he shared with his fellow software engineers, Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarty, explaining the wonderfully serendipitous event that took place earlier that day.

"And you actually _talked_ to her?" Jasper asked doubtfully. "I mean, a full sentence. Not just 'um' or 'ugh'. Caveman talk doesn't count. You can barely form a full sentence with a girl you like."

"Yeah, Lauren was your girlfriend so long because you didn't like her, so you could actually talk around her!" Emmett added with a laugh.

"From what I heard, they didn't need to talk." Jasper winked.

The officemates grinned and high-fived each other while Edward glowered.

"You're insufferable!" he scowled. "I actually said seven whole sentences to her!"

His officemates laughed. "Seven!" they whistled.

"A veritable soliloquy," joked Jasper.

"Fine! I'll talk to Alice then!" Edward stormed out, trying hard to ignore the laughter behind him.

Edward found an empty conference room and set up his laptop. This was how he preferred to converse, via his laptop, even with Alice.

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

_Alice_Brandon: ???_

_Edward_Cullen: I want to meet her. _

_Alice_Brandon: ????_

_Edward_Cullen: Bella swan_

_Alice_Brandon: okay, so meet her_

_Edward_Cullen: what do I do?_

_Alice_Brandon: (angry face icon) how did you survive without me? _

_Edward_Cullen: not good. Just tell me what to do._

_Alice_Brandon: why don't you stop by my office? She likes pop tarts? Bring pop-tarts._

_Edward_Cullen: now??_

_Alice_Brandon: no!! do it tomorrow or she'll think you're a stalker. I'll ping you when she's there._

_Edward_Cullen: (happy face icon)_

_Alice_Brandon: (kissy face icon) ciao!_

The next day, the three officemates were all seated in the office they shared, each in front of their respective computer monitors with their backs to each other, heads covered by headphones, writing code and listening to their own Pandora radio stations. Edward, however, was fidgety. He was looking for something that was not appearing on his desktop.

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

Jasper made a snarling noise, threw his headphones off, and swiveled in his chair to face Edward. Emmett, noticing Jasper's movements, stifled a laugh. He had seen this all before more times than he could count and found it an amusing distraction from writing code.

"Damn, Edward! I'm right here! You can just talk to me instead of IM'ing!" Jasper snarled.

Edward's shoulders slumped as he took off his headphones. "So, uh, have you seen Alice today? I've been waiting for her to log on."

Jasper rolled his eyes as Emmett lowered his head to muffle the sounds of laughter that were erupting from within. "Edward, for god sakes, are you cyber stalking my girlfriend?"

"No, I just, well, she's supposed to let me know when Bella is in the office so I can just stop by and see her. You know, pretend to see Alice but really see Bella." Edward's voice was both rushed and muffled. Emmett could not hold it in any longer and just burst out laughing, nearly spitting out his Rock Star caffeinated drink all over his computer screen,

"Edward! My man! Do not cyberstalk Alice or Jasper will sic Rosalie on your skinny ass!" Emmett laughed.

"Fine!" Edward was exasperated. Some friends they were. "If Alice isn't available, will you all help? I gotta figure out how to get to know this girl. I mean, she's perfect!"

Jasper and Emmett exchanged looks, and then wheeled their chairs so they faced Edward. They had on their dad-gives-advice faces.

"Girls like compliments."

"They can tell a phony a mile away, so don't just fake the compliments."

"Chocolates and flowers are cliché."

"Find out what she likes and give it to her."

"Treat her like a queen."

"Eat her."

Edward was frantically typing notes into his iPhone until he heard the last bit of advice; He didn't bother to write that one down. "Okay, what else? What exactly do I do now? I just met her yesterday. I want to see her again. I want her to want to go out with me."

Emmett and Jasper were both trying to keep their faces straight. Well, Jasper was. Emmett was silently laughing, his shoulders hunching up and his eyes were starting to water.

"Tell me again what you and Lauren did? Not talk, I assume." Emmett tried to keep a straight face.

Edward turned red. "Sometimes there is no need for words."

Emmett turned around, wrapped his arms around himself and made kissy noises. Edward punched him in the arm. The man was built like a brick wall and it kind of hurt.

"Edward, girls like it when you show an interest in them. Ask her questions. You don't need to really talk them. Just nod and say 'yes dear' a lot," Jasper advised.

"Let her take the lead. That's easiest," Emmett added, once he stopped making out with himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward noticed on his desktop that Alice's status light turned green. He whirled around and started typing. Jasper and Emmett's eyes met. They raised their eyebrows, put on their headphones and went back to their work.

About 20 minutes later, Edward was trying desperately to look casual while simultaneously walking as quickly as possible to Alice's cubicle. She was, as usual, multi-tasking: on the phone, on IM, and updating her project plan while sipping a skinny latte. She saw Edward and nodded in his direction, then nodded towards an empty chair next to her desk. Edward slumped into the seat, then nervously looked around to see if he recognized anyone in particular. He saw lots of familiar faces.

Alice's department was like most of Kasner Corp—lots of smart young twenty-somethings in message t-shirts, jeans, Chucks, flip flops, board shorts, hoodies, anything company branded; a whole variety of casual attire including the preppie east coast sort in their polo shirts, chinos and sockless boat shoes. They were always on their laptops, chatting in break rooms, or rushing to and from meetings. All this activity, but no sign of Bella. Edward's foot was nervously tapping as he waited for Alice to get off the phone.

"Edward!" Alice exclaimed. "Jasper said you were stalking me!"

Edward gave Alice a crooked smile. Alice was like his little sister. They met at college and took care of each other. Alice introduced Edward to cute girls and Edward introduced Alice to her geeky friends, one of whom became her fiancé, the one and only Jasper Whitlock. She owed him one.

"Alice, you know how much I depend on you!" Edward smiled shyly at his friend, testing his charming voice. Alice could never stay mad at Edward and she jumped up to give him a hug.

"Let's start Operation Bella! She sits just down the hall. Did you bring the stuff?"

Edward held up a packet of strawberry frosted pop-tarts and answered conspiratorially "Done."

Alice clapped in glee. "Awesome! Come this way."

They wandered down a brightly colored hallway to a cubicle near a window. There sat Bella on a large exercise ball, earphoned, typing quickly on her keyboard and drinking an organic iced tea. Alice tried to get her attention by waving.

"Knock knock!" called Alice. Bella noticed Alice and took off her earphones.

"Hey! Alice, right?" Bella asked, smiling. Then she noticed Edward standing next to Alice. "Hey…" Bella's voice trailed as she failed to remember his name. Edward smiled back crookedly while his head dipped a bit in a cute, slightly bashful move.

"I was just telling Edward here how much we love pop-tarts, and our break room just has the healthy stuff—ugh! Isn't he a dear, he brought us a treat," Alice chirped.

Edward slowly pulled out the toaster pastries from behind his back as Bella's mouth made an "O". "Strawberry frosted! My favorite! Alice, this man is a godsend!"

Edward turned bright red. Alice kicked him in the foot. "Talk!" she whispered hoarsely.

"Uh, hi," he said.

"Hey, you were at the book reading yesterday, weren't you? We stood in line together? You all have the pop-tarts?" Bella asked, knowing full well the answer, but wanting to start a conversation with this handsome shy man.

"Uh, yeah," Edward replied.

Bella waited for Edward to say more, but, once a few seconds passed and he added nothing more to the discussion, so she started talking again. "Lucky you to have pop-tarts nearby! I'd gain the Kasner Corp twenty pounds if I sat so close to those goodies."

"Ah, you look great," Edward said without thought, and then flushed again. Alice and Bella exchanged knowing looks.

"So…how do you two know each other?" Bella asked.

"Stanford," Edward replied.

"Edward introduced me to my fiancé, Jasper Whitlock. They share an office over in building 42," Alice added.

Bella's eyes brightened. "Oh, Edward's a matchmaker? Maybe you can find someone for me?" she hinted. Edward coughed and Alice kicked his foot again.

Alice crossed her arms and looked serious. "So, Bella, you're single? What's your type?"

Bella smiled and winked at Alice. She and Alice appeared to be on the same page. "Hmm…someone about my age, smart, tall, thin, good personality, sense of humor, well-read, excellent taste in snack food." Bella emphasized the last two items. "Know anyone?"

Edward coughed several more times while Bella and Alice tried not to laugh. "That's my clue to leave. Edward, why don't you see if you know anyone right for Bella? I've got to prep for a project-planning meeting in ten minutes. Ciao," Alice turned and nearly skipped back to her desk.

Bella and Edward sat in silence. Edward looked at his feet and Bella simply watched Edward. She was smiling softly, noticing how handsome and sweet he was and how his jaw line was magnificent, his eyes intensely green and his cheekbones…. To. Die. For. She needed to put him out of his misery.

"So…" she swiveled her chair to face him directly, and opened the pop-tarts slowly. "Want to share?" she held out a toaster treat.

He smiled and took one gladly. "Thanks." They ate for a few moments in silence. "So…where are you from?" Edward asked. Hometowns are always a safe topic.

"I'm from Arizona. Went to Dartmouth. Spent a year with my Dad in Washington state but I'm trying to forget about that."

Edward was intrigued, "Why's that?"

"Have you been there? Cold, damp, a huge change from sunny Arizona."

"So you went to sunny and warm northern New England to go to college?" Edward joked.

It was Bella's turn to laugh. "Silly me! But going to Dartmouth was always a dream of mine. Notice I ended up here in California. Okay, your turn, what's your story?"

"Born and raised in Chicago, then went to Stanford. I knew to head to south avoid winter," Edward replied with a smirk.

Bella laughed. _He has a sense of humor!_ Bella started to appraise Edward from head to toe and liked what she saw. Edward noticed a change in the atmosphere as Bella checked him out and his inner nerd boy started to wake up. He needed the safety of his computer, that two thousand dollar security blanket.

"Uh, I gotta go," he mumbled.

"Hey! Already? Well, thanks for the pop-tarts. Maybe I'll see you around?" Bella asked.

"Yeah," he mumbled as he left, head down, moving his feet quickly towards the exit.

Bella shook her head. She thought they had a moment, but suddenly it was gone. She checked Alice's IM status. It was green, so Bella decided to do some reconnaissance.

"Alice, what's up with Edward?" Bella inquired as she arrived at Alice's desk. Alice was rushing about, unplugging her laptop to carry it to her next meeting.

"Bella, all I can say is he's really shy; I mean _really_ shy. But he's worth the effort. He's like a brother to me, he's easily one of the nicest guys I know."

Bella stood there as Alice departed, thinking about that handsome jaw line and those lovely green eyes.

*-*-*

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

_Isabella_Swan: yes_

_Edward_Cullen: glad you liked the pop-tarts_

_Isabella_Swan loved them! You're welcome to bring them anytime (smiley face)_

_Edward_Cullen: (smiley face) I'm glad_

_Isabella_Swan: r u going to the beer bust Friday?_

_Edward_Cullen: Alice mentioned it_

_Isabella_Swan: a bunch of us from marketing are going. See you there?_

_Edward_Cullen: coolio_

_Isabella_Swan: you did not just write that!_

_Edward_Cullen: did you not realize how hip I truly am? (winking smiley face)_

_Isabella_Swan: underneath your engineer exterior lies a hip dude??_

_Edward_Cullen: a groovy hip dude_

_Isabella_Swan: far out!_

_Edward_Cullen: I can dig it_

Isabella_Swan: I have an urge to watch Laugh In on YouTube now

_Edward_Cullen: need a big afro and bell-bottoms_

_Isabella_Swan: wearing that to the beer bust Friday?_

_Edward_Cullen: you dare?_

_Isabella_Swan: I just started here. I need to look professional (winking smiley face)_

_Edward_Cullen: bc you look so professional in skinny jeans, Chucks and a Coldplay t-shirt_

_Isabella_Swan: you did not just memorize what I wore! Are you Clinton or Stacy on What Not to Wear?_

Pause.

_Edward_Cullen: Not Stacy. _

_  
_Pause.

_Edward_Cullen: Not Clinton_

_Isabella_Swan: jk_

Pause.

_Isabella_Swan: on a deadline. Ttfn_

_Edward_Cullen: bye_

*-*-*-*-

The beer bust was a bust. With a keyboard attached to his hands, Edward knew he could be charming, witty and amusing. He could flirt with girls. Yet away from the computer, he regressed into the nervous, shy, mute nerdy boy who was picked on in high school. Even though Edward was a tall, handsome and wealthy (Edward was employee number 12 as Kasner Corp—he was pre-IPO and could buy half the houses in his neighborhood in the wealthy town of nearby Palo Alto), the scrawny nerd-boy from within came out when he liked a girl. Cruel irony.

It was different when he met Lauren. It was at a beer bust like this one, she was standing with some of her public relations coworkers and started eyeing him as he stood with Jasper and Emmett. She caught his eye by doing rude things to her beer bottle. Edward choked on his beer. As Jasper and Emmett slapped him on the back, they commented on the blonde and her oral skills.

"Go for it, dude," Emmett ordered Edward. "You've had a long dry spell."

He never really fell for her, but the sex was great. Well, Edward didn't have much comparison, but there was lots of it and he enjoyed it; Lauren's oral skills were not just for beer bottles. But then she started getting weird, clingy, and asking for him to buy her stuff. Not little things like flowers or dinner, but big things like BMWs and Mediterranean vacations. She had discovered that he was employee number 12.

Alice had helped Edward extricate himself from Lauren by finding employee number ten and steering Lauren in that direction. Lauren dumped Edward like an after-thought and Edward was once again the single guy surrounded by couples.

That was what he was used to. That was the world he knew. Thanks to his nervous disorder, that was the world he was resigned to, unless he partnered himself with someone he didn't care about, someone he could actually stand in front of and talk verbally--without the aid of keyboards and monitors.

Bella arrived at the beer bust with some of her friends, and joined Edward and the gang. The large group hung out together, chatting about their favorite cafes on campus, talking about the company founder's pep talk they had just attended, and critiquing the up and coming young indie band that was playing live music to the Kasner Corp employees. Bella had positioned herself in the group next to Edward, but he didn't talk to her, except for a cordial "hi" It was just easier to talk to Jasper and Emmett, to talk to practically everyone else on the planet but Bella.

Bella knew Edward was shy and she had a feeling that he liked her, but it was just…awkward. They had a great conversation over IM, but live, standing next to her, it was as if someone had substituted Edward with a mannequin.

The night ended early for Bella Swan, and she took the company shuttle back to her flat in the Noe Valley section of San Francisco.

"Edward, what the hell was that?" Alice asked, after they walked Bella to the shuttle stop and waved her goodbye.

Edward kept his hands in his pockets and his head down.

"Alice, don't bother Edward right now," murmured Jasper, ever the diplomat. "He's upset."

"Yeah, and I'm upset too! Bella was hurt!" Alice chirped angrily.

"Alice, you know I can't talk to girls I like!" Edward whined.

"Argh!" the pixie threw her fists in the air in frustration. Jasper wrapped her in a comforting hug.

"Alice, dear, I don't think Edward is enjoying this either. Give it time, I'm sure it will all work out. You take care of Bella and we'll work on Edward," Jasper spoke into Alice's hair between kisses. Alice shook her fists in frustration one more time and they marched back to the busted beer bust.

***

Over the weekend, Bella was sipping a latte at the local coffee shop on 24th Street, catching up on some work when she noticed an IM appear.

Edward_Cullen: yt?

Bella smiled.

_Isabella_Swan: y. where r u?_

_Edward_Cullen: work_

_Isabella_Swan: in the office? On a Saturday?_

_Edward_Cullen: yep. I live so close to campus I can ride my bike here._

_Isabella_Swan: anyone else there?_

_Edward_Cullen: a few. We have a milestone due next week and the project started slipping._

_Isabella_Swan: so you're spending your time IM'ing me???? (smiley face)_

_Edward_Cullen: (smiley face_)

Pause. Bella had just gone back to her work when the IM window popped up again.

_Edward_Cullen: I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I get shy._

_Isabella_Swab: np_

Pause.

_Edward_Cullen: what are you doing?_

Isabella_Swan: I'm in a coffee shop doing work 2

_Edward_Cullen: where?_

_Isabella_Swab: so you can stalk me? (winking smiley face)_

_Edward Cullen: if I bring pop-tarts, does that make it okay? (smiley face)_

_Isabella_Swan: LOL. Always yes with pop-tarts._

Pause.

_Edward_Cullen: sorry, gotta go. See you Monday?_

_Isabella_Swan: y. Have a great weekend. Don't work too hard._

_Edward_Cullen: u2_

_Isabella_Swan: ciao_

Bella smiled.

Edward smiled.

On Monday, Edward and Bella had a few more IM conversations. They managed to discuss their favorite Dr Who's, their college experiences, their families, and their favorite burrito shops. Bella wished he was in front of her telling these things himself, but she knew he wasn't ready.

On Tuesday, Bella was leaving an aerobics class at the company gym when she spotted Edward on the treadmill, all hot, sweaty and yummy looking. She took a breath, dabbed the sweat from her brow, and walked up to him. He had his iPod on and was watching the TV screen on the treadmill monitor. Syfy channel.

"Did you catch the last season of _Battlestar Gallatica_?" Bella asked. Edward nearly tripped when he saw her and pulled off the ear buds.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey yourself," she answered. There was a pause. She waited to see if he would continue the conversation. Her shoulders slumped slightly when he started glancing at the TV screen before too long.

Bella got closer and started placing her hands on the armrest of the treadmill. She held her hands as if she was typing.

"Do. You. Come. Here. Often." She spoke as she typed the words on her imaginary keyboard.

Edward realized quickly what she was doing and laughed. He slowed down the treadmill and placed his hands on his own imaginary keyboard, which was over the TV monitor in front of him.

"I. Try. To. Come. Here. Twice. A. Week." He typed out loud. "Must. Work. Off. The. Pop. Tarts."

Bella laughed. "Me. Too." She typed.

"Hey, sorry about Friday," Edward spoke without typing, but he still couldn't look at Bella, instead staring at an _X-Files_ rerun.

"Yeah, no prob," Bella responded, feeling slightly deflated. _We almost made some progress…_

A few moments passed. Bella cleared her throat and drank from her water bottle while Edward found the _X-Files_ so interesting….

"Do you think Mulder and Scully ever did it?" Bella suddenly asked.

Edward nearly tripped on the treadmill. "What?"

"Did they ever do it? I can't recall. I know there was that famous _Rolling Stone_ magazine cover with them naked in bed. Loved it!"

"Now I need a laptop to search for the answer."

"I'm surprised they don't have internet access in the gym instead of just these TVs. Then we could do our _X-Files_ research and work out. The ultimate multi-tasking."

"I think in the _X-Files_ movie they did it. Or maybe the last episode of the last season."

"Didn't she get pregnant the last or almost last season? Was he the father?"

"I don't think they ever said who the father was. Some sort of miracle child she had to give up for adoption."

"Weird, I haven't thought of that show in ages."

"Right here on Syfy. You need to work out more."

"Or just rent it on Netflix. Probably on Hulu or Youtube too."

"Welcome to the 21st century, Bella Swan."

They smiled. _That wasn't so bad, Edward Cullen_, thought Bella. _Better stop now while we're ahead…_

Bella flung the towel over her shoulder. "I'm outta here. Gotta catch the shuttle back into the City."

"Where do you live?"

"Noe Valley. I love it there. 24th Street has some great little shops and the neighborhood is terrific. The commute is long though."

"Well, if you ever need to spend the night somewhere, my place has some extra room. You're welcome to crash anytime." Edward spoke then suddenly seemed shocked after he said the words. He did have a guest bedroom in the house he shared with Emmett and Jasper (who were never home, preferring their girlfriend's domiciles). "Um…I mean…" stammered Edward, trying to take back his words.

"No worries, Edward. I don't mind the commute. The free wifi on the shuttle helps. More time to IM," she winked at Edward and walked away, trying to sway her hips ever so slightly, wishing Edward to watch her departing backside. He did and it nearly caused him to trip. Then he pumped up the speed on the treadmill, needing to sweat out a demon.

***

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

_Alice_Brandon: I'M IN A MEETING!! RED = DND!!!_

Thirty minutes later…

_Edward_Cullen: yt?_

_Alice_Brandon: y. I was projecting on a screen when you IM'd! I had to go disconnect from the projector and go offline! Argh! (angry face)_

_Edward_Cullen: sorry (sad face) but you're the only one who can help. I want to ask Bella out. What do I do?_

Pause.

_Alice_Brandon: ask her out._

_Edward_Cullen: how?_

_Alice_Brandon: try this: Bella, do you want to go out with me?_

_Edward_Cullen: Very funny. _

_Alice_Brandon: BRB_

Pause.

_Alice_Brandon: k, start with something easy, like lunch together in the café_

_Edward_Cullen: sounds good_

_Alice_Brandon: BRB_

Pause

_Alice_Brandon: shit! Don't hate me!_

_Edward_Cullen: ???_

_Isabella_Swan: Edward? Yt?_

_Edward_Cullen: y_

_Alice_Brandon: oops! I accidentally sent Bella a IM for you_

_Edward_Cullen: (angry face) WTF!!!!_

_Isabella_Swan: did you want to ask me something?_

_Edward_Cullen: Alice???_

_Isabella_Swan: Edward? Yt?_

_Alice_Brandon: mea culpa_

_Edward_Cullen: Bella is IM'ing me right now!_

_Alice_Brandon: oops. That was fast._

Isabella_Swan: Edward????

_Edward_Cullen: hi bella_

Isabella_Swan: hey. Alice sent me a weird IM. I think it was 4u

_Edward_Cullen: really??_

_Isabella_Swan: can u do me a huge favor? Come by and bring some pop tarts?_

_Edward_Cullen: right now?_

Isabella_Swan: y

_Edward_Cullen: k_

Edward looked up from his keyboard and headed for the nearby break room to get a packet of strawberry pop tarts. _Shit!_ _What the hell did Alice IM to Bella_? After he grabbed some off the shelf of free snack treats, he was turning around and noticed a brunette with a heart-shaped face carrying an open laptop and smiling at him.

"Hi there," she smiled.

Edward was in shock. He was holding the toaster treats with his mouth hanging open. Speechless.

"I heard you were looking for me. I had a meeting in your building, so I thought I'd hang out and get some work done in one of these conference rooms when Alice sent me this weird IM out of the blue. Something about asking Bella out for Thai food. I wanted to let you know in person that I prefer Italian."

She still smiled. Edward was still in shock. Bella waited to see if he would talk. She was starting to get nervous.

Meanwhile, Edward was beginning to recover. The reptile brain with the nerd boy was trying to take over, but Edward would have no more of that. He wanted to do what he had wanted to do all week.

Still not speaking, Edward suddenly moved across the room and kissed Bella soundly on the mouth. Initially Bella was stunned, but she let her lips part and his tongue danced at their entrance. It was the most amazing kiss she had ever received, so much better than Mike Newton's. She closed her eyes, grabbed his bronze hair and pulled him closer.

After a few moments (once they remembered that they were in a public place), their lips parted and they stood with their foreheads touching, panting slightly.

"Wow," was the only word that Bella could say.

Edward smiled a crooked smile. "Is Bella Swan speechless?"

"Shut up and kiss me again," was her response.

***

_Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind."_

_-The Princess Bride  
_

**Glossary:**

Yt = you there?

Y = yes

K = okay

BRB = Be right back

TTFN = ta ta for now

DND = do not disturb

JK = just kidding

NP = no problem

WTF = what the fuck

Edward Kasner = American mathematician who created the term "googol" which equal 10 to the 100th power.

Pandora: create your own radio station by rating music. Free online: .com

Pop-tarts: toaster pastries

_What Not to Wear_: fashion TV show with Stacy and Clinton as hosts.

_X-Files'_ Mulder and Scully: two FBI agents investigating the paranormal in the 1990s cult TV show. Relationship started out platonic…

Syfy: Science Fiction TV channel

Youtube, Hulu, Netflix: all ways to watch shows or movies online

A/N:

Please review! The dolphins in _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ get more fish with each review!

* I wrote this fic because I work in high tech and wanted to finally write a fic in that setting. I'd like to do more, but have writer's block w/r/t to plot. If you can think of a cool plot for these kids, PM me or add to your review.


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